Golden State has long been rumored to be chasing Dwight Howard, despite his exclusion of the Warriors from his team of preferred trade destinations (read: places he will consider re-signing with). What's more, Golden State has been rumored to be interested in trading for Howard without assurances he'll stay. That's the ultimate Russian Roulette gamble. If you miss out with convincing Howard, you will have traded everything you have and have nothing to show for it. Talks had died down in the din of Nets chatter that continues. But a report today from NBA.com says that the Warriors aren't done chasing the rabbit down the hole.

From Scott Howard Cooper of NBA.com on Twitter:

Warriors continuing push for Dwight Howard deal even without DH commitment to re-signing. Not backing off from risky move, source says.

Monta Ellis is a very good player, if not a "star" or "superstar." Klay Thompson looks to be a great rookie. They have Ekpe Udoh as a talented young big man along with Biedrins' expiring contract. The Magic have reportedly wanted to stay in the playoff hunt, which means they want talented veterans, though,and outside of Ellis, the Warriors are short on that. That's what makes the Magic request so baffling, that they wouldn't be trying to work away to get Stephen Curry, draft picks, and Udoh out of Golden State.

And all of this for a situation in which Howard could vanish outright. It's a monstrous gamble. But let's look at the best-case, worst-case scenario here.

Best-case: Howard and Ellis/Curry click. Howard finally has a co-star worthy of his stature while he's also clearly the alpha dog. The Bay Area market allows for him to cash in on endorsements and media opportunities, while enjoying the California weather, even if it's a bit colder and ranier than southern California. Mark Jackson gets the defensive rock he covets, ownership gets a star to build everything around. Shooters plus creator plus Dwight = success. They hold his bird rights which means Howard has to walk away from the $30-million-plus afforded him in re-signing with his current team in free agency. That's a big stone to hold.

Worst-case: Howard leaves, and the gap from the assets traded for him creates an unbalanced roster full of misfits who have to be traded off. Meanwhile, the organization clears over $15 million in cap space and has the ability to clean house on a team that has been fundamentally flawed for the past decade, cycling in the same style of players. A clean slate erupts, with the worst part being a potentially unhappy Curry/Ellis but the Warriors now have unlimited flexibility to retool their roster.

Is drastic change that bad of a worst-case scenario? If Howard and Ellis/Curry works, he could very well stay, and that's great. If it doesn't, he leaves anyway and the Warriors start over again which they've needed to do forever, and that's great. It would look bad, and would create a painful rebuilding process. But if you want to make an omelet you have to break a few eggs. A move like this would prove the new ownership really is the kind of bold leadership they say they are, unwilling to stand on the sidelines while other teams make the franchise-changing moves.

It's just a question of how brave are they, and if Orlando will finally bite the bullet for their offer.

The Warriors had signed DeAndre Jordan to an offer-sheet this weekend but the Clippers matched the offer on Monday and will keep the younger, more talented center for a hefty price. The Warriors have been shopping for a center this offseason to beef up their defensive front. It was widely speculated that they would amnesty Andris Biedrins, but instead used the clause on Charlie Bell.

Brown is notorious as a bust for Michael Jordan's Wizards, and for being complicit in the playoff disasters of the mid-00's Lakers. But very quietly he had a quality season in Charlotte. He's not worth $7 million but for a one-year, desperate to get a center, it's not the worst move in the world. He is wildly overpaid but looking around the center-short league, it's hard to find many outside of Dwight Howard who aren't overpaid.

Still, not exactly the start Golden State was hoping for under new ownership from Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, a new management committee and new coaching under Mark Jackson.

The Rockets are looking to find a new starting center. Yao Ming's future is extremely uncertain, Brad Miller just got traded and Chuck Hayes, the current starter, is only 6-foot-6. So they're targeting some available big men.

"Was able to confirm reports by the Houston Chronicle that the Rockets are indeed interested in acquiring Biedrins," he wrote. "So why is Biedrins still a Warrior you ask? While this may seem the perfect answer to the Warriors' ills, Golden State, according to multiple sources, are not at all enamored with the Rockets' offer thus far. I've been told the Rockets have offered Hasheem Thabeet and Jordan Hill. Haven't confirmed if they were offered as a package, but the figures add up ... Bottom line for the Warriors: that's not enough."

Biedrins isn't an All-Star center or anything, but Houston's going to have to do better than Jordan Hill and Hasheem Thabeet. Biedrins is a horrible offensively liability, but he's a defensive presence and one of the league's best rebounders. He averaged a double-double for two straight years, including a season of 11.2 rebounds per game.

The Warriors have been rumored to be interested in trading Biedrins for some time. Biedrins though is signed through 2014 making $9 million a season with an early termination option in the final year. So it's understandable that people aren't blowing the Warriors away for a one-way player that's owed $27 million over the next three years.

Fact is though, Biedrins would probably be a pretty nice fit in Houston. The Rockets need some size and need someone to handle the primary minutes at center. Pretty much anyone will work next to Luis Scola, but Hayes, while a tough, hardworking player, just isn't going to get it done. Biedrins would give depth and size the Rocket front court.

So he'd work well there. They're just going to have to do better than Thabeet. Which is understandable, but really, why are the Warriors intent on hanging on to him? Biedrins isn't a fit for the Warriors and they have young talent that needs to see the floor. Even if you lose the trade, dumping Biedrins is probably for the best.

Despite what their front office is saying, there continues to be a considerable amount of noise about the Warriors actively shopping Monta Ellis over the last month. And now that noise has started to make the noise that sounds a lot like the Superman theme. While it was an offer that fell short, it's still intriguing that Golden State is swinging for the fences.

Udoh actually showed quite a bit in his first season for Golden State, but obviously, he's not even close to 50 percent of a replacement for Howard (and 50 percent is really the best you can hope to get for a player of his stature). Biedrins' fade has seemingly been permanent and at 25, there's little hope fo him making the astronomic jump to be a huge component.

Ellis being in the conversation, however, is interesting on another level. While the package doesn't come close to matching what the Magic would need for Howard (nor has Orlando seemingly shown any interest in trading Howard), Ellis makes for a fine fit on the Magic. The Magic need a legitimate scoring option who doesn't rely on the open perimeter shot, who can create off the dribble. Ellis fits that image perfectly. Stan Van Gundy can cover Ellis' defensive worries the way he covered Vince Carter's. It fits nicely.

Of course, just as the Warriors don't have the right combination to trade for Howard, without Howard, the Magic don't have the pieces to trade for Ellis. It's a near-fit, but not quite enough.

If nothing else, the lowest bar for the Howard sweepstakes has been set. The offer for Dwight Howard has to at least be better than Ellis, Biedrins, and Udoh.

It's quite obvious now that Keith Smart has little faith in Andris Biedrins, and why should he? The man looks lost. Career-wise, he's halfway back to Latvia. He played all 12 minutes of the first quarter, to the tune of one shot and one rebound. It's also clear that Smart isn't ready to play Ekpe Udoh against a team as talented as the Lakers, and Udoh himself admitted he needs more time to adjust to the NBA game. The most intriguing lack of trust last night involved Lou Amundson. Listen, the guy's no world-beater; he has limited skills. But he had some success against the Lakers during the Western Conference finals last year, particularly in Game 4, when he gave the Phoenix Suns seven points and seven rebounds off the bench in 17 minutes. The Lakers are no mystery to him. Seemed awfully strange that he didn't even get off the bench.

Biedrins has started for the Warriors since 2006-2007. Before that? Adonal Foyle. Clifford Robinson. Before That? Erick Dampier. So we're talking a long and historic range of failure at the center position.

What's sad about this is that the Warriors have run such a fast paced system, that had they simply had an above-average big to really fill in all the blanks while keeping their style, their success could have been so much greater. It's not true that a legit big man is an anathema to a system that runs and guns. That's likely why David Lee was brought in. Unfortunately, due to injury, adjustment, or just a smaller role in the offense, Lee hasn't been nearly the player he was in New York, with significant regression in points and rebounds. Meanwhile, Biedrins is also slumping, and despite being on the trade block for years, hasn't been moved by management yet. Ekpe Udoh theoretically shows that kind of promise, but it's hard to see him making that kind of jump immediately.

Amundson was brought in as a free agent at the last moment. That Amundson was available was confusing as he showed such tenacity in the playoffs with the Suns. But perhaps the scouts were right about Amundson's lack of discernible skills being problematic outside the talent basin in Phoenix.

The Warriors don't have to slow it down, play traditional ball, or grind it out. They can play up-tempo, play fast and loose with focus. But to get to the next step, they have to have a big man to fill in that role, a true big who can get big buckets and rebounds coming off those breaks. Until they find that, the Warriors are just spinning their very fast wheels.

David Lee will officially make the position change from center to power forward, which is probably a more natural spot for him anyway. In New York, he played as an undersized center in an up-tempo scheme and in Golden State, well, I guess he's just playing power forward in an up-tempo scheme.

Really, across the board though, the Warriors didn't have any wide open positions up for grabs. Maybe small forward where Vladamir Radmanovic or Rodney Carney could've pushed Wright, but Smart didn't want to mess with it. He wanted to get it out of the way early and let players start figuring out roles now.

The big question has been how Curry and Ellis play together but for the foreseeable future, they are going to be together in the backcourt in Golden State. And instead of opening up things and seeing how it played out, Smart decided to just lock everything down now. He knows the team already and he's sticking to the script. It's the expected starting five and probably the one he would've settled on had he opened up all five spots in camp.

Posted by Royce Young The Warriors will be under new leadership once the season starts, but it's going to be the same group running training camp. This is a new-look team with a number of fresh faces, but the core backcourt remains and looks to grow another year together. Can the Warriors begin a climb back to respectibility? It'll all start in training camp for them and it'll also require a number of issue to get sorted out.

Player to watch: Jeremy Lin. For whatever reason, Lin has already become a cult basketball star. He's the Harvard grad who blew people away with his summer league fearlessness and ability. He got a guaranteed contract from the Warriors and is already becoming one of the faces of the team and probably the fan favorite. Everyone has him dubbed a sleeper and a ready-made scorer that's going to make an impact.

Did I mention he hasn't played a game yet? While Lin was impressive during the summer, he's still an unknown. Right now he's third on the depth chart behind Charlie Bell for backup point guard duties, so he's got to work to earn time on the floor as well.

Chemistry quiz: The Curry-Ellis experiment enters year two, with both guys desperate to have the ball in their hands. In the Don Nelson system, shots are there for pretty much anyone who's willing to take them, but a constant battle over who controls the ball is something the Warriors hope to avoid. It can upset not just on-court chemistry, but also off-court unity as well.

The real chemistry question is what's happening upstairs. Once ownership of the team is transferred, will the Warriors still be under the same direction of Nelson, or will they be scrambling to make a switch to Keith Smart (or someone else) right before the season?

Camp battles: Who's backing up David Lee at power forward? Ekpe Udoh was hurt this summer with a wrist injury, but is he ready to find rotation time in front of Brandan Wright? Wright has always seemed to find himself in Nelson's dog house, but with Udoh's setback, Wright may get his chances. Injury issues: David Lee hurt his hand during Team USA's training camp but is supposed to be healthy for the Warriors camp.

Biggest strength: Speed. Everyone knows the Warriors can score. Their points per game is often a bit deceiving because in terms of offensive efficiency, they're typically in the middle to lower half of the league. But this Warrior team has a bunch of skill around the ball. Curry is a gifted passer and shooter. Ellis goes end to end in a blur. David Lee runs the floor exceptionally well for a big man. And there are hyper-athletic guys waiting on the pine like Udoh, Wright and Lou Amundson.

Glaring weakness: Should I just say "defense" and leave it at that. Or do I really need to explain why the Warriors are bad defensively and therefore, that's a weakness? Let's just leave it at that.